myspace in prague
Last week, I was figuring out where the true nightlife is around prague. I tried asking around and got many suggestions, but I never really got a feel for the demographics or the type of music that would be played at these clubs, bars, and lounges. I know that I'm in Europe, and that usually means house will be played no matter what. Nonetheless, I would like to have some control over what kind of house music I will hear if I pay 5-10 euros to enter the club.
I picked up a lot of cards and flyers for nightlife events. Usually the starring DJs have their websites listed on these cards. Instead of homepages, I was directed straight to their MySpace profiles on the web. This was not the first time that DJs put the addresses to their MySpace profiles on these cards. I saw them while in Paris and Berlin as well. I sensed that social networking was not too big among the German youth; but MySpace's core draw is for musicians and DJs. Being able to broadcast your music to thousands of potential listeners at little cost is a very big draw to musicians and DJs.
what to do when your camera gets lost/stolen... and my time in prague
Unfortunately, I have been a victim of theft or utter carelessness as my camera got lost/stolen between my train ride to Prague and my walk to the hostel. To be honest, I have no idea what happened except I sadly see all of my photos from my last day in Berlin disappear.
I thought about doing complicated schemes and getting a new camera shipped from America to France. Given the amount of time I have left (less than 2.5 weeks) and the amount of trouble that it may cause to get the camera here (customs, turnaround time, etc), I decided to give the camera function on my Motorola A1200 a good test run to see whether I want to use my phone as both a camera and mode of communication. The last time I sneaked a few photos inside a basilica in Paris, 50% of the photos came out okay while the rest were pretty blurry and terrible.
I took most of my photos during the day in various settings. Weather ranged from rainy to sunny weather. I also took photos indoors and outdoors. I took some pictures with people and without people.
There were some limitations with my camera. First of all, 2 megapixels do not compare to 5 megapixels. Also, a tiny mobile phone screen (although it is an LCD screen) does not compare to my 3.1 inch LCD screen of my former camera. It's always nice to be able to quickly judge the quality of the photo on a large screen rather than the miniscule screen of my mobile phone. Some of the settings were really nice such as the low-light setting and zoom. However, the picture becomes very grainy if you zoom really far in. I think this may be fault of the tiny lens. Since there was no flash on my camera phone, I couldn't take many photos in low-light settings.
The good things were that it was nice to be able to set these photos as wallpaper in my phone or a screen saver. In addition, I can instantly send it to my friends back in Paris or in Chicago. As one MMS = 5 SMS, it does not cost that much to send photos via Orange Mobicarte. However, I still prefer to view my photos on a larger computer screen back home and edit them before I emailed them out. It is very convenient that I had a decent camera on my phone with a 1 gig mini SD card. I wish I had image stabilization on my camera thought as I think most photos came out really blurry; however, I can't tell due to the small screen size of my phone.
I walked into a lot of electronics stores in Prague today. The prices here made me appreciate the United States a lot more in terms of affordability and features. I saw the Motorola RIZR retailing for at least 8000 krony ($400) with a contract. Usually most U.S. mobile phone contracts make the phone very inexpensive (besides the upcoming IPhone) in order for the phone to become a hot seller (and more customers as well). I looked at displays of phones, and I see Samsung and Nokia phones prominently displayed right in my eyesight in dead center. Meanwhile, Motorola phones were definitely below my eyesight. Samsung advertising is also plastered everywhere in Prague from the subway stations to media.
As I don't have a USB cable with me, I won't be able to make the final verdict on the image quality of camera phones. I will do this when I get back and upload photos, but I'm sure the quality is inferior. In all likeliness, I will probably buy a new digital camera (sadly on my own money) when I get back to the United States.
Ethnic social networks
Today, I've paid my respects to the Jewish Holocaust victims at the memorial in Berlin. Sure this probably has little relevance to what I will comment about today, but it is interesting to note.
Koolanoo is a Jewish social network that recently got about $3 million in capital from a venture capital group. The company that owns Koolanoo also plans to launch other social networking sites geared towards other religious and ethnic groups. It currently owns 360Quan.com, a Chinese social network and video site.
It's funny how so many social networking websites based around the most far-out of themes and ideas are popping up these days. These niche social networking sites hope to differentiate themselves from the thousands or more other sites and gain the precious capital and lucrative marketing revenue enjoyed by behemoths such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. The popularity of Web 2.0 seems to mirror blockbuster movies right now as investors and companies are trying to find the next "it" site and make lots of money. As the critical mass of members are needed to make a social networking website useful to the member, many social networking websites are gearing themselves towards niches in order to get that 2% of the population on their sites 24/7. Facebook started out as a social networking site among college students in elite universities. Now, it's a public site open to all members based on region.
Koolanoo looks to have some promise as Jewish people tend to stick together on a lot of things. The same goes for any ethnic or religious group such as Koreans, Chinese, African-Americans, Hispanics, Quakers, and Catholics. People tend to flock towards what's familiar, and I won't be surprised if this company rolls out with sites for every single major ethnicity. The only concern I have is that others already exist. For example, Google's Orkut is a hub for Indians and Brazilians. MySpace is the hub for Americans. Cyworld is the hub for Koreans. It would be very hard to battle with such incumbents who've been around the space for at least several years.
being in berlin
It is my second day in Berlin, and a lot has happened over the last few days. I found out that my German is pretty terrible, but I can understand the people which is probably a good thing. (Prague will be interesting in that I will have no idea how to read or communicate with the natives.) After wandering and talking with the locals, here is what I learned about Germans so far.
1) Not all are created equal. Although Germans and French considered themselves European, they are completely different. As far as I can tell, Germans are more laid-back and less concerned with "spectacle" than the French. The French are definitely more chic and concerned about their outer appearances than the Germans. This rings true with their perceptions of the cell phone. French youth view their cellphones as a status statement and accessory. The Germans view their cellphones much more practically as a tool of communication.
2) However, French and Germans are equal in that they both text heavily. Although more Germans seem to use cars as modes of transport relative to French, the German youth still use the U-Bahn and S-Bahn frequently. I always see them flurrying away on their mobile phones talking to friends. Another thing is that nightlife in Berlin is much cheaper than nightlife in France. German youth seem more comfortable hopping one club after another because cover is so cheap. This also creates a situation in which German youth need to stay in touch with friends because they will end up hopping from one club to another instead of staying in one club. This led to some interesting situations as I was the only one with any mobile phone out of our group while friends who live in Berlin tried to meet up with us at several places.
3) Just like in France, the choice for mobile phone design for the German youth is definitely the slider. I did see a fair amount of flip mobiles in the hands of various German teenagers.
4) Their favorite brands for mobile phones seem to be similar with other European youths. Samsung and Nokia were frequently mentioned. Sony Ericcson came up very strong. Motorola was definitely recognized a bit more than in France though. A lot of people are talking about the release of the N95. Too bad I'm going to be gone before it comes out in continental Europe. I may have to make a day trip to London in order to get my hands on it and play with it.
5) Germans spend a lot of time on the internet. There are internet cafes everywhere in Berlin.
StudiVZ is a very popular site for German college students to connect. MySpace was heavily mentioned as site of choice for looking up nightlife events.
MyVideo is YouTube equivalent in Germany. Wikipedia is a very popular site among Germans for information and random facts.
you can really do nearly everything together...
Nowadays, you can do a lot of things online. You can play poker, share photos, watch videos, and write blogs. Leave it to the Russians to figure out
how to bring alcoholics and social drinkers together online. Basically you take your shots through the USB cable (whatever that means...).
This is just too funny. I can't even type anymore. I'm going to make fun of my friend from Russia about this.
valentine's day aftermath
My friend ran into a blog
entry about how the Princeton student government set up a website that allows students to list up to five people they have crushes on. If two people list each other, the website puts the two potentials together. The site went online on Valentine's Day and tons of people signed up for the service.
Many other schools offered similar services using the Facebook engine. Google Orkut also offers a similar feature called the Crushlist. Craigslist even offers an online classified section listed as "missed connections" that helps connect people who had crushes with each other.
It's interesting because I know tons of boy-girl "platonic" friendships that had the potential to be more than friendships. However, they are always afraid of being rejected and creating awkwardness with the friendship they have. I can name so many examples but that's beyond the point of this blog. The internet has definitely transformed the way people communicate. People get asked out on dates through email or IM. When did IM become an acceptable mode of communication to talk about serious issues?
valentine's day was not a big deal in paris... but
As being a citizen in Paris means that you relive romance every day, it's definitely apparent that Valentine's Day is not a big deal. I don't see the random hearts of red and cupids everywhere like in the United States (or in Belgium), but it was cute to see couples share their love discreetly last Wednesday.
It's cute to see couples texting each other, playing games with each other on mobile phones, and listening to their favorite music with the same earphones through their mobile phones. It actually makes me really jealous and wish I have my own significant other with me listening to music on the metro.
You see a lot of texting in Europe even on St. Valentine's Day. People setting up dates and get-togethers through texting. I even found myself in the texting group as I buy 50 new text messages every week instead of call time.
I wish I can read a cute message on my phone. :P
have a digital flower for valentine's day
Several days ago, I noticed that I had the ability to give a digital gift to a friend on Facebook. This digital gift range from the traditional rose to the suggestive thongs or to the outrageous toilet paper. Your first gift is free, but subsequent gifts will cost you a $1 each. Net proceeds will support the charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Almost everyone on Facebook has at least one gift, but I'm not too sure if someone would be willing to pay $1 for each gift he or she sends. After all, most Facebook users have hundreds of friends. Once you start paying for gifts for some friends, you feel guilty and end up buying more. This gets pretty expensive especially if you're a college student. Granted, I have a suspicion that this may turn into another popularity contest, and people will start buying and sending digital gifts to show off their social statuses.
Hopefully Facebook will announce the results of this fundraiser. I can see this as a pilot for Facebook to see the feasibility of making revenue from digital items like Cyworld. After all, advertising revenue and marketing research fees can only make you so much money.
Labels: facebook, gift, valentine's day
youtube + nokia = love
YouTube is definitely trying to be legitimate as it is working out its copyright issues by creating partnerships with major media firms and tech companies. It was funny how someone mentioned that it would be difficult to port YouTube video to a mobile phone 6 months ago. It looks like it's turning into a reality as Nokia jumped to create a partnership with the mother-of-all video sharing sites on the web. Then again, if you have millions upon millions of users on the YouTube site at any given moment, that is lucrative marketing and advertising space.
From the looks of it, YouTube videos can be accessed (via Nokia phones) through an RSS feed, so you can keep up with all the updated content. Unfortunately, you can't browse or search for any specific video as you will have to subscribe to YouTube channels.
As an avid YouTube user (especially overseas when I need American TV), I'm actually tempted to get a Nokia phone. As the Nokia n95 looks to launch in Europe while I'm here, I hope to pick up one before I come back home. I wish I can play with all those new toys and features, but alas, I would have to pay a lot for any media/internet packages when I get back to the U.S.
political campaigning... social networking style
I'm sure many of you (like me) has watched Barack Obama confirmed his presidential bid for the 2008 U.S. election. After perusing a bit through MySpace, I noticed that Obama's site has turned into a social network in order to drum up more support for his bid as the Democratic nomination for president.
Barack Obama turned his
site into a social network this past weekend, hoping to create a venue for his supporters to connect. Obama is already leveraging social media using Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, but the addition of “My Barack Obama” seems smart: Obama is one brand that already has masses of offline support across a wide spectrum (i.e. University of Chicago, NASCAR, etc). This will just complement his campaign to effectively reach more people.
After wandering through the site, it's actually pretty cool: you can organize fundraising opportunities, create events, find Obama events near you, build a network of friends (that email invite system is crucial), send messages, join groups and write a blog about how you’re helping Obama, or how you feel about Obama's campaign. Groups are the way to connect to strangers on the network, since I couldn't find a browse feature. In many regards, it’s more like Facebook than MySpace or YouTube - simple interface and text-based content for connecting with people you know or those around you. But it also lacks the openness of hi5 or Piczo: self expression tools like embedding your own video clips from other sites, adding online slideshows and uploading lots of photos aren't available at all. I guess Obama would like to keep tabs on his site after all.
I am certain that the Democrats will benefit most from political campaigning on the web as the younger demographic on social networks tends to learn to the left as far as I can tell. Barack’s social site isn’t perfect - it lacks the ability to browse content and users freely. This may be intentional as I wouldn't want some crazy person spreading weird messages across my political campaign site, but this lack of openness does limit the site's usefulness. BUT, it's so much better than anything by Hillary Clinton or John Edwards. Barack is also more suited to the age of celebrity, wall-to-wall TV news and YouTube addiction (remember his clip supporting the Bears' run to the Superbowl): he’s more charismatic than the other candidates, and comes across better in video clips.
Lots of new advertising
After several weeks of seeing advertising for Sony Ericsson Walkman series phones, apparently Nokia has won the battle for ad space and put up ads for its 5200 music phone. By placing words such as "emotion", "connect", "life", and "music," Nokia is definitely trying to market its phones as way for their consumers to connect with their lives and their favorite music.
I'm not too surprised because people in France do have a love affair with their personal MP3 players and listening to music. Considering that they spend a lot of time in the often-crowded Metro, I actually am jealous that I don't have one either.
Walking around Paris
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be blessed with the first sunshine I have seen in two weeks. I decided it was time for me to go on another walk around outside Paris and experience more of the city. As my work is starting to pile up as it is halfway through the quarter, I realized that I need to get back into exploring the many colorful neighborhoods of Paris.
All Sunday I was wandering through parks and neighborhoods with another student in my program with my digital camera in hand. I took many photos of the green parks, the views on top of hills, and random streets and sights. While I was on my photo-taking journey, I noticed that a lot of Europeans who were in their late twenties and thirties were using the digital camera features on their phones to record their memories with their loved ones. Phones from Sony Ericcson and Nokia were popular choices. Phones from these companies usually emulate the shape and feel of digital cameras and have features that are usually found on high-end digital cameras. For example, many of the multimedia phones from Nokia have Carl Zeiss lens and at least a resolution of 2.0 megapixels or higher. It also help that these phones look really cool and trendy as these people are increasingly viewing their cell phones as accessories.
From seeing this, I wonder what these people do with their photos upon taking them. After seeing multiple people taking photos on top of the hill, my curiosity won out, and I attempted to talk to these people in my non-existent French. To my surprise, some people were happy to talk to me (in English…lol) about the photos they take with their cell phones.
One cited convenience. One European male who was in his late twenties mentions that he never knows when he will take a photo with or without his girlfriend. Carrying out a digital camera is just a hassle as he never wants to take a bag with him, and using a digital camera as opposed to a phone takes away the “spirit of the candid moment.” As another person puts it, “it’s more fun to take random pictures at the spur of the moment.”
I’ve also talked to a group of girls who were taking silly pictures with their camera phones in the Metro. One girl mentioned fashion and convenience. She just didn’t like carrying too much stuff in her purse. Another girl mentioned that with all the pickpockets, having a digital camera makes you more of a target. They agreed that it’s convenient that their phones have MP3 playback and camera features.
What about social networking? What do these people do with their phones to connect with other people? The European males mentioned that they always Bluetooth or MMS their photos if it’s something their friends or families need to see. More often, they would upload them to their computers (via Bluetooth or USB cable) and email them that way because it’s cheaper. It also allows them to edit the photos on their computers in case it's a bad photo.
Where online can you find out about nightlife besides MySpace
Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. A lot has happened. I've been travelling within Belgium and the Netherlands since Thursday, and I've been taking tons of notes on recent developments within Europe in the social networking world (especially in music-sharing.) I will also be in Dublin this weekend. In two weeks, I will be in Berlin, Prague, and Vienna during my one-week holiday. I'll have lots of fun recording all my observations in the coming weeks.
Anyway, a lot of French (and other Europeans) do frequent MySpace in order to find the next clubbing event. Nonetheless, it seems like the most popular sites for finding clubbing events are sites that concentrate on providing this information and placing the social networking aspect as a fringe feature.
After coming out of a club late one night, someone passed me a card for a future clubbing event. On the bottom, it turns out that this club has a profile for
Tilllate.com. I checked it out the next day and signed up for a profile. The site layout is very clean unlike MySpace and much easier to find clubbing and nightlife events once you decipher the language. Many basic social networking features have been implemented into this site. Members have profiles , and there is a rating system in place to rank clubs and events. You can even see how many members will be going to certain events to get a feel for what's popular. The site also offers many discounts and offers for being a member.
I will testing the site's credibility this week for my thursday night entertainment.
our difficulty finding a taxi cab
This past weekend, we were on our way back to the dorm from a bar. Then, we realized that we didn't have a phone number to get a cab. There are taxi stands all over Paris, but apparently everyone was going home when we were going home. This is usually never a good proposition as four girls are never really safe at 3 am in the middle of Paris.
After numerous failed attempts to procure a number, I realized that if only I had access to a list of important phone numbers in Paris at my disposal, I would never had this problem. It was times like these that I wish I had a GPS system or access to the internet on my phone so that I can find the fastest (and safest) way back home. Nowadays, it's so important to stay connected just so you're not a target. Although having a GPS tag is like having an eye forever watching you, I don't know if my privacy is more valuable than me being safe and in constant contact with a friend. As more municipal wi-fi systems are being put up in cities across the U.S. (and in Europe), it is becoming easier for one to stay connected. However, imagine how much easier it is for the governments to start watching you. It doesn't sound like the safe and peaceful utopia one would hope for.
amusing video
Has social networking gone a little too far? Here is an amusing
parody about the phenomenon.
using video sites to stay on top of my favorite TV shows
This past monday, I was unfortunate to find out that I could not watch one of my favorite TV series, "Heroes", on NBC's website because I'm not viewing it in America.
I'm a big believer in intellectual property rights, but how am I supposed to view my favorite TV show legally over the web, if NBC denies me the right to see it on their website. I perused through YouTube to find the new episodes; however, due to YouTube's attempt to be accepted into mainstream media, YouTube has been constantly taking down videos of copyrighted content. (Nonetheless, copyrighted content is being put up by others who haven't been blocked from the site yet.)
After talking to a fellow French fan of "Heroes," I have rediscovered my love for
DailyMotion. Not only are the videos of much higher quality, but users are not hindered by the 10 minute length limit imposed by YouTube. I can watch whole episodes of "Heroes" complete with French subtitles (to help me learn French) in the comfort of my room with friends and cookies.
